Patent · US Expired

Process for rapidly determining biological toxicity of wastewater

US4620930A · kind A · utility

15Cited by
6References
6Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventor

Key dates

Filing dateDec 16, 1985
Grant dateNov 4, 1986
Priority date
Expiry dateDec 16, 2005

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC Y)Emerging Cross-Sectional Technologies
  • CPC primaryY10T436/209163
  • WIPO fieldMeasurement
  • WIPO sectorInstruments

Abstract

This invention pertains to a method for analyzing the biochemical decomposibility of aqueous substrates by microorganisms and particularly to a method for analyzing the quality or biological toxicity of incoming sewage to a sewage disposal plant. The process comprises: placing a preselected amount of bacterial culture, in the form of a dried powder, in contact with a preselected amount of aqueous waste containing greater than 5 mg/l dissolved oxygen, the bacterial culture being capable of effecting aerobic biodegradation of organic waste; measuring the dissolved oxygen content of the aqueous waste during rehydration and respiration development of the microorganisms as a function of time; determining the rate of dissolved oxygen decline at a preselected time; and then comparing the rate of dissolved oxygen decline to the rate of dissolved oxygen for a preselected baseline standard substrate. By comparing the ratio of dissolved oxygen decline at a preselected time with respect to a test sample and a standard substrate one can calculate the relative toxicity or inhibition of the incoming sewage to aerobic respiration and growth.

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.